In late May 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had generated more than 40 million jobless claims. As workers were laid off and furloughed at a rapacious rate and unemployment benefits were artificially propped up, the situation created a unique scenario for many individuals. There’s no doubt that these initial days of the pandemic were stressful, difficult, and even scary. Even so, for many people who suddenly found themselves out of work, it ultimately proved to be a time of deep introspection and time spent grappling with the question of where their life was headed in the future, were they in for a career change.
Seeing the Silver Lining
While being without work is never fun, being laid off due to circumstances out of your control but then being able to tap into a beefed-up unemployment program to boot has left many people wondering if the next move should really consist of begging for their old job back.
After all, just 27% of college graduates actually end up working jobs related to their major. In other words, before the quarantines began, a lot of people were working in industries that they never planned on pursuing in the first place.
With that said, for many, the correct response to the COVID-19 crisis hasn’t been to panic. Nor are they planning on scampering back to their previous employment. No sir. The future is plain to them, and it comes from a critical silver lining perspective:
The fallout of the coronavirus pandemic will ultimately be the chance for countless individuals to finally make a career pivot in an attempt to realign themselves with past hopes, aspirations, and goals.
Making a Career Change Post Quarantine
If you’re amongst the rank and file of those preparing for a professional pivot, it’s important to realize that a successful career change doesn’t just happen. It requires thoughtfulness, poise, boldness, and consistency. Here are a few tips and tricks to help you prepare for a successful career change as the age of 2020 quarantines winds down.
Choose Your Path and Don’t Look Back
While shifting into a field that you’re passionate about may seem like a simple line of reasoning, it actually requires some fairly detailed decisions. For instance, if you’re deciding to finally get out of sales and go for a proper marketing position, you need to figure out what kind of marketing job you’re going to apply for. Do you want to be an executive? Do you want to focus on a cutting-edge online marketing technique like search engine optimization? Are you more of a traditional marketer?
You don’t have to water down your dreams in this process. For instance, the field of writing was once thought to be locked up by a few monks in monasteries. However, during the Renaissance, enlightened secular men began to write more material and to print them on new printing presses. Not long after that, women like Aphra Behn, Emily Bronte, and Jane Austen boldly jumped into the fray, and before you know it the entire industry had been blown wide open for anyone and everyone with a pen (or keyboard) and the words to express what they wanted to say.
In the same way, you can pursue things like writing or music, if that’s your dream. The gig economy, in particular, has made these more viable career choices than ever before.
The important thing is that you choose your path with confidence and then don’t look back. You’ll be tempted to. It won’t be easy finding your way. So make sure you’re not waffling between new career options. Find your passion and focus in on it.
Take Your Finances Seriously
Next up, take some time to comb over your finances. You may be living comfortably with that extra $600 a week, but that won’t last forever. Even extensions and additions to the perk are aimed at getting people back to work, not enabling them to stay home.
With an expiration date on your source of income likely in sight, it’s important that you start budgeting for an economically challenging future now. Start calculating income and expenses, build up an emergency fund, and do everything you can to get your finances in tip-top shape before you make your pivot.
Consider How You Can Prepare
Once you’ve planned your direction and finances, it’s time to prepare for your jump into a new career. This is the “look before you leap” stage of the process. Consider what you can do to maximize your chances of success. A few suggestions include:
- Brushing up on your interview chops — especially considering some of the new techniques out there, such as behavioral interview tactics.
- Reviewing information you may have forgotten since you wandered from your original focus on the industry.
- Researching any new information that may have surfaced since you last paid attention to your new career field.
- Considering if you need to go back to school to plug any skill gaps or fill in any holes in your knowledge.
Whatever you specifically decide to do, make sure to thoroughly go over what you can do in order to increase your chances for success.
Remember to Follow Through
As you prepare to launch your career in a new, post-quarantine direction, remember to go about the process with sincerity and determination. If you approach the shift with a laissez-faire attitude, you’ll only be setting yourself up to faceplant in your first interview — if you even get that far in the first place.
The important thing to keep in mind is that you orient yourself in your new professional direction and make thorough financial and professional preparations before you dive in. Then, once you “take that leap,” do everything you can to follow through with the transition with a grit, tenacity, and fervor that demonstrate to your new employers and coworkers how much you want this change to be the real deal.